One day, there was an unexpected raid. 

Dragon Father had just appeared and walked into Dragon Little’s cabin to wake her up. 

But before he could, ninja pirates climbed aboard Bonny’s Revenge from all sides. Four of them ran into the cabin and immediately came out with Dragon Father whose mouth was gagged and his feet and hands tied. 

He seemed helpless. 

Four more pirate ninjas came into the cabin. 

I heard them grab Dragon Little and I heard her scream and struggle, but that did not help her. 

Two pirate ninjas carried her out of the cabin, her hands and feet bound, but her mouth wasn’t gagged. 

“Don’t touch me! Don’t touch me!” she shouted at them. 

They put her next to her father and she looked at him. He looked at her and nodded, indicating that she should calm down until they had an opportunity to do something.

The entire situation felt dangerous, and I was about to stand up and prepare to descend and help, when I remembered that it was Dragon Father’s subconscious that was causing everything. 

Whatever this was, there was some kind of plan. 

I remained on my stomach and kept watching. 

The last two pirate ninjas came out of Dragon Little’s cabin carrying the four small stuffed dolls that were Dragon Little’s only playthings for as long as I have been in her dreams. 

“Dollies!” Dragon Little shouted. 

“We’ve found them,” one of the ninjas holding the dolls said. “The Key to the Golden Chalice!”

“That’s my Dollies!” Dragon Little shouted again. “Let them go or I’ll kill you.” 

“Take the keys,” the apparent leader of the pirate ninjas told the others, ignoring Dragon Little. “Also, take these two. They may have information we need about the Golden Chalice.” 

“Noooo!” Dragon Little shouted and now her mouth was gagged, too. 

Gagged and bound, the pirate ninjas transferred my two favorite humans to their ship and flew away.

I did not like the way this adventure began. And, indeed, with good reason. I will tell you more about it tomorrow. 

—Told by The Red Dragon